kat, unedited

17 weeks?! Whoa whoa whoa. That’s only a few weeks away until halfway!!! Every week that passes I’m just so astounded how quickly it goes by. And it’s not like I’m so busy that I don’t notice the time go by, because I do.

This past week I had my monthly appointment, which was great. I was able to confirm the sound of the baby’s heartbeat so now I’m confident that this is what I hear when I use my doppler at home.

When I woke up on Sat morning, I squirted some of the cold gel that came with the doppler and went to work. Joe was still asleep and he actually has not heard to heartbeat at home. I found it just after a couple of seconds, and I whispered for him to wake up. He stirred. I told him to get the headphones off my head so he can listen to the baby. And he did. It was sweet…An awesome way to start the day! We listened again last night because I just could not get enough! I discovered that the doppler had 2 lots for 2 separate headphones—how convenient! It is seriously the best $25 I’ve ever spent.

This past week I also finally figured out how to get rid of my headaches. CAFFEINE. I had stopped drinking coffee regularly before I even got pregnant because I was finding that I didn’t really need it. I still don’t—I have enough energy to last me through my workday. But my headaches were just not going away, unless I popped a Tylenol or 2. I realized that on weekends, when I have a morning coffee, I wouldn’t have a headache. So I started drinking coffee while I got ready for work all last week and it’s made all the difference. I don’t drink much—probably a half a cup to a full cup on weekends. I figured caffeine is better than Tylenol!

Here were my stats last week:

Symptoms: not much this week—I’m hungrier more often, but that’s not new. Oh, I’ve been getting really out of breath when going up 3 flights of stairs in the office

Cravings: none—I don’t think I’ll have cravings at all this pregnancy

Food Aversions: none

What I miss: I miss the sunshine! Not pregnancy-related but still.

Weekly wisdom: Start looking into birthing options if you have the time. Also, start researching things that you will want to put in your registry.

Milestone: hearing the heartbeat with my home doppler

How I’m feeling: I feel wonderful. I’m really excited to finally have a definitive baby bump because right now I just look really really full. Or maybe I’m just in denial?? I dunno, I saw one of my coworkers today and she said I still don’t look pregnant. I feel pretty good this month too because I have the anatomy scan in 2 weeks and then another visit 2 weeks after that!

The babe was the size of an onion this past week:

(is it bad that everytime I do a produce size update I always wanna put “yum” after it?? it feels weird)

I was hoping to get an idea of how my labor and delivery could possibly go, so last night I asked my mom.

Background on my lovely mom, my best friend, my hero: She is 50 years old. She has 4 daughters, ranging in age from 27 (moi) to 8 years old. My mom and dad never were together after I was born (when she was almost 23), and she married my stepdad when I was about 10.

So, when she had me, she was only 22 and was in medical school in the Philippines. She said she started labor at dawn some time, but she took her time and labored at home. She ate breakfast, took a shower, then made her way to the hospital around 9am. I was out by noon and weighed over 6 lbs. Sounds good, right?

My first sister (14) was born prematurely. We were still living in the Philippines at the time and I know it took my mom at least 2 years to conceive AND stay pregnant. She had numerous miscarriages—I don’t even know how many and it’s something that we’ve never talked about. My sister was blue when she came out. They decided to do a C-section on my mom during one of her regular appointments because I think the baby’s heartbeat was weak. I think she was born at 7 mos. My mom named her Vida, for life. I was only 13 then, but I knew that my sister had to fight to survive. She was in the hospital for at least a month, and she was barely 2 lbs! She rallied and she is now your typical teenage girl, a freshman in high school, and is taller than me (what’s up with that??!).

Renee came after Vida. I know there was at least one miscarriage between them. My mom was 41 when she had her. According to my mom, she was a week overdue and had to be induced. Once induced, it only took a few hours to labor and she was born around 7 lbs, 10 oz.

Then came Jean, who is only 19 months younger than Renee. My mom was barely 43 when she had her. She was also a week overdue, and after inducing her, went home and had to come back because she wasn’t dilating! She was born a whopping 8 lbs, 10 oz.

So what did I learn from this conversation with my mom? That anything is possible! :) There is no discernible pattern whatsoever and the fact that I and Vida were conceived, gestated, and born in the Philippines 13 years apart compared to the little ones who were conceived, gestated, and born here shows that there is some Third World vs First World factors in there that I can’t even begin to enumerate.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want out of the birth of my firstborn. I need a plan in place ASAP so I could get comfortable with this plan! Of course, I think the biggest thing is to stay open to the fact that anything is possible (with my mom as an example here) and not be dismayed if things don’t go as planned. Laboring and birth methods research commences this weekend :)

usplustwo replied to your post: I had my 16 week appointment today and everything…

Glad your appointment went well. Soon you can pick up the babies movement on the Doppler. Sounds like something clunking into it. Haha.

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I actually think I may have picked up some movement last week!!! I wasn’t sure if that was it (or if it’s even possible to pick that up), but it sounds like when someone hits the mic with their hand to test if it’s working.

I hope you’re doing well! :)

I had my 16 week appointment today and everything is going well! I think I’ve mentioned it before, but I always get just a teeny bit anxious in between appointments. Today my midwife and I listened to the heartbeat, which is still amazing. It confirmed to me that this is excatly what I’ve been hearing with my doppler at home! Speaking of, I haven’t written about it because I wasn’t sure if what I was hearing was the baby’s heartbeat. I started to hear it at around 14 weeks, and it’s gotten stronger—louder—in the last week. I probably listen to it about twice a week. Now that I know exactly what to look for, I’ll feel so much better with the peace of mind it will bring in between visits.

I also confirmed with my midwife that the hardness I’m feeling about an inch below my bellybutton is my uterus. It’s just crazy that I can actually feel it from the outside now. I just know that my belly is going to huge! In a good way. I’m only 5’2 (on a good day…like when I’m standing up straight). The area between the bottom of my boobs and where my hipbones are is barely 10 inches (I just measured with a ruler). Picture a 7lb-ish baby plus all the fluid…wow. Honestly though, I’m excited to see what my body can do!

I just found this Tumblr: roomforkids.tumblr.com and it is awesome!!! I cannot wait to find out if we’re having a son or a daughter so I can start making some decisions.

Lots of things happened this past week.

First, my little bump is growing. I mostly feel it when I’m laying on my stomach (a luxury I’m trying to enjoy as much as possible right now). I felt it last night too when I was taking a bath and I laid on my stomach. It’s an actual bump! I had by no means a flat tummy before I got pregnant so it’s a little difficult for me to distinguish my uterus sticking out vs. pre-pregnancy cushioning. But now, even when I’m laying on my back in bed, I can trace the contours of my belly and tell where my uterus is. It’s harder than the rest of my belly. I had Joe feel it last night and he could tell too.

I also bought maternity clothing this past week. I had to accept the fact that I am indeed far enough along to have grown around my waist. Today I’m wearing my first pair of maternity work pants and honestly, I haven’t been excited to get dressed for work in MONTHS! It is so awesome! I got a couple of cute tops too that I can’t wait to fill :)

Here are my stats:

Symptoms: increased hunger

Cravings: None out of the ordinary

Food Aversions: Nil. It’s awesome.

What I miss: None this week.

Weekly wisdom: Go get maternity clothes if you haven’t already! AND, try to go to an outlet store if you have one nearby. I scored work pants, a pair of jeans, and 2 tops for $100 total.

Milestone: Actually feeling my bump. Fitting in my clothes again (thank you maternity clothes).

How I’m feeling: I feel awesome. I figured out that my headaches were caused by sleeping too much. I woke up earlier this weekend, cutting my sleep to about 8 hours, and no headache! I really wanted to avoid taking any more Tylenol, which I was taking every time I would get a headache over the weekend. From this point on no more sleeping in! I also LOVE that my uncomfortable symptoms are gone. I’m counting down the days until I am going to be bigger (4 weeks) and can’t sleep on my tummy anymore (4 weeks). The second trimester really is the bomb, as all of the pregnancy books and apps I’ve read have said.

The baby was the size of an avocado this past week:

My long-awaited appointment is this Wednesday. Yay!! I don’t get to see the baby but I do get to listen to the heartbeat. I think this will also be the visit that I start talking to my midwife about birthing options. I haven’t done too much research but I think this is a good first step.

Today is an important day for me. Well, kind of. Dressing myself has become really really difficult in the past couple of weeks. I’ve been able to get by with unbuttoned pants and the rubberband hair tie trick and flowy, non-clingy tops. But this morning, as I looked forward to wearing some work pants that fit nicely just a few weeks ago (and maybe was even a little big), I was appalled to find that the buttons do not even meet!!! They’re about, ohhhhhh, 2 inches too far from each other. WHA——?! I mean, I guess I’m a little excited too, because it justifies that I’m really growing. So today I’m sporting these pants with just the zipper holding them up (please cross your fingers they do not fall at work—that would be horrific). I’ve also asked Joe to take me maternity clothes shopping this weekend. And it will be for real this time. I’ve been putting it off for weeks but I really don’t think I could go another week with my regular clothes. I literally spend at least 5 minutes every morning staring at my WHOLE closet and deciding that NOTHING will fit. Even tops are ridiculous because of these boobs!

So why is it an important day? Well, it’s the day that I accept my growing body. I’m a few days shy of hitting my 16 week mark and starting my 17th week—the baby’s almost half a foot long at this point! I think it’s time to give myself a break and give in. I think it has something to do with a conversation I had with my mom last night, too. She asked me if I was showing, and I told her that to me, I look bigger, and things aren’t fitting. She then said it’s only a matter of time (like really really soon) that I’ll be rounder and be more obviously pregnant. And that made me feel somewhat validated.

I think it’s just difficult to change your mindset when you spend pretty much most of your life being so conscious of your body. But today I moved over to the other side. I’m just gonna continue to be healthy but also accept that my body is accomodating—NURTURING—a whole new life! It’s liberating. And I feel good.

I have mentioned in the past just how much Kelle Hampton’s blog inspires me. I look forward to reading her words and living my life as positively as she does. I read her blog and get a dose of much-needed perspective. She is an amazing mother. Kelle gave birth to Nella almost a year ago and, in celebrating Nella’s first year, Kelle has put together a fundraiser for the National Down Syndrome Society. It is so inspiring how much people can come together through this medium called the internet. I donated $10—and I’m sure many people donated the same amount or maybe even $5. But right now, the total is over $70,000. AMAZING. Here’s the link if you’d like to help.

The last week has been a breeze—I think the easiest one since before the nausea kicked in. First and most importantly, nausea is pretty much nonexistent. I am ecstatic and I feel like a new person.

One thing that I started noticing in the past week is my seemingly declining attention to detail. Could it be the pregnancy brain that everybody talks about? I made a mistake at work that I have never once made in the last 3 years that I’ve been handling this one project. I’ve done over a hundred of these things and I made such a rookie mistake! It’s really unnerving. I think this means that I just need to be more mindful of things I’m doing at work to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.

Another thing I’ve noticed this past week too is that when I lay on my stomach, I feel something “pushing back”. Does that make sense? I guess I will dare say that I do have a little bump starting. I took some photos this morning (in my underwear, so I can’t share!) to compare to ones I took a few weeks ago and I could definitely see a mini-bump!

Other than that, here are my stats:

Symptoms: some random uterine pain, headaches

Cravings: None out of the ordinary

Food Aversions: None! At least I can’t think of any. Still, the smells are my kryptonite but I’ll take that any day.

What I miss: Wine—this is mostly because in the couple of shows I’ve watched this weekend, people were always drinking wine.

Weekly wisdom: This could be a good week to really start investing in maternity clothing.

Milestone: A mini-bump!

How I’m feeling: I feel great! Emotionally, I’m getting really antsy for my next appointment next week. I’m so thankful that I get monthly appointments.

Baby was the size of a navel orange this past week:

Dear little one,

Since before you were even conceived, your dad and I have been looking for a new place to call home. We love our home now, but we wanted to make sure to find one where we would have room to grow for you and a brother or sister (or two…shhhh don’t tell dad!). We also wanted to move closer to our friends, your Auntie Laura and Uncle Jimmy because they just had two little angels, Trevor and Sloan. And by closer I mean 3-4 houses down! Dad and I were thinking that you would become instant friends! I couldn’t help but imagine the play dates we would be planning, the barbecues, possibly babysitting while they went to dinner and vice versa. Also, the schools are awesome there, compared the ones where we live now.

So, I think we may have found the one, honey! Introducing, our possible brand new home:

And here’s where you’ll be banging pots and pans while I make dinner:

And here is where you and Vinny and Brodie will be chasing each other (I see us spending lots of time out here, especially in the summer):

I’m crossing my fingers that we hear about this house around the time we find out if you’re a he or a she. I am so excited to start decorating your room!

I have a really good feeling about this one. I think that we are going to spend many, many happy years here.

Love,

Mama

Dear little one,

Your dad made the first gender bet last night with one of his really good friends. He thinks you are going to be a boy. His friend, Shawn, of course bet that you are going to be girl, teasing your dad that then he’ll know how it’s like to have to ward off boys like your dad. It made me chuckle because based on your dad’s stories from when he was a younger man, I would want to keep my daughter away from him too!

Where do I stand? Honestly, I go back and forth. In the beginning I was thinking that you would be girl, picturing myself buying ruffles, pink things, bows, tutus—aah! It’s enough to make my head spin. But then now I’m thinking that you’re probably a boy, and that’s really just because your dad and I don’t have a boy name picked out! Either way, I’ll be elated. We have only 32 days left until we find out! 32!!! I can’t wait!

Love,

Mama